Chapter One

Danny Stratton moved slowly throughout the hallways of McKinley high school, his new high school for the year. Danny was a junior student starting at his tenth school in just three years and he didn't plan to stick around at McKinley for very long, he never did, his father would get transferred jobs yet again in around three months' time and he'd have to leave again. There was no point event trying to make friends, it would only make the inevitable goodbye that much harder when it came. His dad had promised him that this time it would be different but Danny doubted it, he had said that before. Danny was a handsome boy and a very skilled dancer though he never did much with it, he never had the time to join a club and his dad would never support him if he chose to pursue a career in that field. Danny had been born in England and had relocated to American with his dad when he was six years old for a fresh start following the death of his mother and sister in a terrible car accident that had left Danny with a permanent scar on his stomach which made him feel very self-aware.

Danny knew he was attractive, even as he walked down the corridors of his new high school he was aware girls were staring at the hot new guy. He caught the eye of one eye catching pretty brown haired blue eyed girl who gave him a friendly smile as he walked by; her boyfriend didn't look too happy about it. The last thing Danny wanted on his first day of high school was to get into a fight over some dude over his girlfriend. Despite his good look and approachability Danny had never been much of a ladies man; he attracted a lot of girls but he never wanted to do anything with them. If he did, she was just another person he could end up getting close too and then have to leave once again. It had happened before and it had nearly destroyed him. Danny gave a short smile back to the girl and carried on into his new homeroom

"Can I take your name" the rather loud home room teacher said as he entered. She was very intimidating, dressed in a tracksuit and had what seemed to be an Olympic bronze medal hung around her neck "I am Coach Roz Washington, I am your homeroom teacher this year. It was Sue Sylvester but that weedy as hell Ellen DeGeneres wannabe was fired last year for bringing a fire arm to school. What is your name?"

"Danny" the boy squeaked "My name's Danny Stratton"

"Boy, what the hell kind of accent is that" Coach Roz asked as though Danny had just outright slapped her around the head

"A British one" he replied slowly

"You're from England?" Washington replied "Now you need to understand something about the United States of America you man and I am going to tell you that-"

"It's cool" said Danny wanting more than anything to get away from the insane lady "It's cool; I've actually lived in America for eight years"

"Then how come you still got that stupid ass-kissing almost Nazi surrendering crumpet and tea drinking accent" Washington again addressed Danny as if he'd just outright killed one of her children.

"I go back to England for the summer to see my family" Danny told her before shrugging and was grateful when Washington began to shout at more students who were walking through the door. Taking a seat at the back of the classroom Danny took out his phone and began to sort through his music trying to pick an album to listen to in order to drown out the ringing Washington's voice had left in his ears. Danny loved music from his home country, living in America for so long and being ridiculed for his accent so much made him very protective and patriotic towards England. All of his favourite artists were British

"Hey, Danny?" the pretty brown haired girl from earlier was now standing over Danny looking down on him with a radiant smile there was another boy with her but he wasn't the boyfriend from earlier. Danny did a double take. He couldn't believe Marley Rose was standing in front of him, he thought he'd never see her again.

"Marley" he said hugging her tightly nearly knocking her off her feet in the process "Oh my god, Marley what are you doing here?"

"I got to school here" she said happily "Oh Danny, I can't believe you're here. This is fantastic, oh this is my friend Ryder buy the way" she said pointing at the broad muscular boy sitting next to her

"Nice to meet you" said Ryder as he and Danny shook hands

"So" said Marley "How the hell have you ended up in Lima, Ohio of all places?"

"Dad got transferred… again" said Danny "I've been to three different schools since I last saw you, wow Marley, I can't believe I'm seeing you again"

"How do you know eachother guys?" asked Ryder seemingly very intrigued by the whole situation.

"We met at summer camp about two summers ago" said Marley laughing at the memories that had also come flashing back to Danny the second he saw her. Danny's grandmother who normally looked after him during his long summer visits had been too ill to look after him that summer and with his father busy Danny had been sent off to summer camp. He'd hated it there, he was bullied by some of the older kids and the camp was a dump. Luckily, he met Marley and they became best friends and shared everything. Once camp was over they stayed in touch for a few months until real life took over and they lost touch. Danny had been devastated; Marley was the only friend he'd truly had since he moved to America

"Please tell me you are still singing" said Marley. Ryder's intrigue only seemed to increase with this statement as she and Marley shared a hopeful look "You've got such an amazing voice Danny"

"Just to myself in the shower these days" Danny told her. Marley still looked ecstatic which further puzzled Danny "Why?"

"You should try out for the Glee Club" said Marley "We need a minimum of 12 members and we've only got six members at the moment because half the club graduated last year. Please Danny, come on you have too"

"I don't know" said Danny. Marley's face dropped "It's just – I want too and everything but we move around so often I don't want to commit to something I might have to let people down on"

"Please just think about Danny" said Marley "Because if we can't find six new members then the Glee Club's going to have to disband. And after two consecutive national show choir championships that would be terrible"

"OK, OK, FINE" said Danny "You've twisted my arm, beside I've never been able to say no to you Marley Rose. When are auditions?"

"Tomorrow afternoon in the Gym I think" said Marley hugging Danny "Oh thank you so much Danny, you're going to love it here I promise"

Danny doubted it. He sighed as he watched Marley practically bounce down the corridor towards some friends. Being near the girl he'd been in love with for the past two years was going to be hard when she had a new boyfriend